If you were like me and had tickets to Fleetwood Mac when they cancelled some of their reunion shows back in 1997, you probably thought there was no hope in hell of seeing the magic of one of the best bands to come out of the ‘70s and 80s. Well, that’s what I thought until 1998 when I caught Mac’s mystical front lady Stevie Nicks at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon on her “Enchanted” tour. When it was all said and done, I thought that show was as close as I was going to get to seeing Fleetwood Mac. However, when I first heard that co-Fleetwood lead singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham was hitting the road for his first solo tour in 14 years in support of his new album “Under the Skin,” it was THE perfect opportunity to complete my own hybrid Fleetwood Mac reunion after seeing Stevie a decade earlier. So, after hopping a plane to Las Vegas to catch Buckingham’s “Under the Skin” show at The Luxor, it was only a couple of months later that I found myself in the crowd at The Commodore Ballroom for Lindsey’s intimate and sold out show in Vancouver. I’ve seen hundreds of big musical names play intimate theater/hall/club shows, and Lindsey Buckingham is, without a doubt, one of the best acts I’ve ever seen, especially at The Commodore where the crowd went nuts.

If you’ve been a fan of Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey Buckingham over the years, you’ll be happy to know that on March 25, 2008 Warner/Reprise released Lindsey Buckingham: Live at The Bass Performance Hall on DVD, recorded in Fort Worth, Texas, which perfectly captures the magic of Buckingham’s 2007 “Under the Skin” tour. Fifteen years after his 1992 release “Out of the Cradle”, Lindsey sat down to write “Under the Skin” after Fleetwood reunited back in 2003 for the “Say You Will” album and his latest solo efforts proves that at 59, he hasn’t lost much in the way of vocals or his masterful guitar picking abilities. If anything, like Lindsey says to the crowd early on in the set, he’s still got it. After seeing two live shows and now the new DVD, it just reconfirms the fact that Lindsey Buckingham is one of the best guitarists and singers that’s ever taken to a stage.

The new Live at The Bass Performance Hall DVD is exciting on several levels aside from the music alone. The video quality, obviously shot on digital, is outstandingly crisp, clear and colorful, which helps to enhance the intimate feel of the show. The audio quality in Dolby Digital Stereo is one of the best “Stereo” mixes I’ve heard in a while. It’s precisely crisp and clean with a perfect balance between channels. The technical quality of this disc oddly reminds me of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Dance” DVD, which was a first generation music DVD released in 1997 that’s still one of the better looking and sounding concert discs you’ll find on the market.

As for the 16 song set list on the disc, with multiple guitar changes along the way, it’s almost exactly what I remember from both live shows that I caught on the tour. Kicking things off with the sincere “Not Too Late” from his latest release before launching into a much softer version of his ‘80s solo hit “Trouble”, Buckingham takes the crowd on a nostalgic journey with such solo favorites as “Go Insane” while sprinkling a few new numbers like “Under the Skin” and “Show You How”, which are two of Lindsey’s best songs of his entire solo career. As any true fan would hope for, Lindsey hits nearly all of the great Fleetwood Mac favorites that he took the lead on, from “Never Going back Again” and the powerful “Big Love” to “Tusk” and what’s arguably the best performance on the disc with “Go Your Own Way”. The Live at The Bass Performance Hall disc is worth its weight in gold just to see Buckingham thrash away, two-handedly, on his guitar during the lengthy solo. Try seeing it live! It’s an absolute must see for any true guitar aficionado.

Also included on the disc is a candid and extremely personal documentary, which gives fans an inside look at Lindsey’s home life and the making of “Under the Skin”. Not only is it highly creative with songs from the new album, but it also raises several interesting ideals and questions, like what it means to hold on to your ideas, going beyond boundaries, and how life is simply meant to be. Lindsey also questions what he has to prove in a rapidly changing music business and also asks whether the music business will eventually be there for him. It’s clear that such a passionate musician is at odds with where he fits into the scene after making such an impact. The documentary is a welcome and warm surprise.

Although age does catch up to Buckingham in the later stages of the show, getting winded at times before the encore, it’s simply due to the fact that the guy plays his guts out for the entire set. My only complaint, after seeing the Vegas show at The Luxor in a more subdued cabaret set-up and the higher-octane, high-energy show at The Commodore in Vancouver, the crowd at The Bass Performance Hall was EXTREMELY WEAK. Lindsey could have done himself a favor and recorded the Vancouver show for the DVD, which would have given the disc a more appreciative tone from the audience perspective. Despite the listless audience, Lindsey Buckingham: Live at The Bass Performance Hall rocks and delivers the same musical greatness as the actual concert experience.

The funny and ironic thing is now that I’ve seen both of Fleetwood Mac’s main vocalists, I’ve heard through the unconfirmed grapevine that the band might be reuniting for a release in 2009. All the better, let’s hope there’s a tour.